"In other words, he didn't want them to kill him," Kapfhammer said Tuesday.

Police had been looking for Brackbill, 32, since Sunday afternoon, when the body of 52-year-old Sandra "Sandy" Mulder was found in her Carroll Township home. Brackbill also lived at the home, Kapfhammer said.

Brackbill is being held at the Boone County Jail in Columbia, Mo. Kapfhammer said he did not know when Brackbill will be extradited to face charges of criminal homicide, theft of a motor vehicle and unlawful restraint.

"It was great that they got him," she said. "I hope he has to pay now. It doesn't bring her back."

Kapfhammer said he was not surprised that Brackbill, who was driving Mulder's 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix, was eventually caught.

"I was glad he was picked up," he said. "He (Brackbill) didn't have any funds, was unfamiliar with the area and was driving a stolen car, so it was only a matter of time."

Kapfhammer said he was eager to get to the last phase of the investigation -- getting a statement from Brackbill and processing Mulder's car.

"It was a terrible tragedy, but it wrapped up quickly -- in that aspect, that was good," he said.

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Mulder's decomposing body was found Sunday afternoon by family and friends, her legs and hands bound by pink duct tape, according to a search warrant.

Kapfhammer said Brackbill was a resident at Mulder's home in the 200 block of Chestnut Grove Road, adding that investigators were still piecing together a motive in the homicide.

An autopsy proved inconclusive, and further testing is needed to determine Mulder's cause of death, York County Coroner Barry Bloss said.

According to charging documents, Brackbill admitted to his girlfriend, Crystal Hughes, on Sunday that "I did something bad to Sandy ... I killed Sandy."

Rosenberger said Brackbill had been living with Mulder for some time, even in a Dillsburg townhouse before she bought her home in Carroll Township.

"She was telling people she was helping him," she said. "I just can't imagine her being so gullible with him; I can't believe she was so naive. He had a record; I can't believe she didn't know that."

Rosenberger also said that recently Mulder asked Brackbill to move out, because her daughter and her family were going to move in.

Mulder grew up in the area, graduated from Northern, and began working at the Navy Depot at age 18. She worked there until her death.

She was hoping to retire in two years," Rosenberger said.

"It's really hard to think she had to go like this," Rosenberger said.

High-tech device helps Missouri cops arrest suspect

Missouri State Highway Patrol officers used an automated license plate reader to get on the trail of homicide suspect Bryan Wayne Brackbill Jr., according to a news release.

The devices, affixed to police cruisers, automatically read the license plates of every vehicle traveling in a particular direction on a highway, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Rob Hicks.

If a license plate has been into a criminal database as connected with a crime and if the device detects the license plate, it will indicate that, Hicks said.

York City Police Chief Wes Kahley announced in August that plate readers had been ordered and would be placed in two of the city's cruisers the following month. Kahley could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

State police used plate readers on some of their cruisers on a trial basis, but don't have them anymore, and have not for about a year, Hicks said.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Paul Reinsch said the plate readers have worked well for the department.

"We've had individuals like this, wanted for homicide, or stolen vehicles -- it's been very successful," he said.